Transcript
KEVIN CASAS-ZAMORA: In 2007, the United States and Mexico launched the Merida Initiative, a multiyear plan for U.S. assistance to Mexico and Central America aimed at helping those governments combat drug trafficking and other criminal organizations. In 2008, $465 million were allocated by the U.S. Congress for this purpose; $400 million for Mexico and $65 million for Central America.
In 2009, the level of funding allocated similar, but a distribution is slightly more favorable for Central America. The administration requested $450 million for Mexico and $100 million for Central America. As you would expect, the Mexican component of the Initiative has attracted a lot of attention in the past few months for rather obvious reasons. We have all, you know, witnessed through the images and chronicles that we see in the media the horrific violence that is taking place in Northern Mexico which, no doubt, has caught the eye of the highest authorities of the new U.S. administration. Yet, little attention has been given to Central America throughout this discussion. There are many -- one would think there are many reasons for this, and Central America does not share a border with the U.S., number one.
Number two, the Central American component of the Merida Initiative is relatively marginal, and I suspect also that -- and this is sad to say -- that the world has just grown used to the terrible levels of violence that are endemic in Central America. You know, more people are dying now in Central America as result of crime, much of it related to drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime, than at the height of the civil wars. But somehow, that doesn't seem to register and doesn't seem to make it to the news anymore. The Central American portion of the Initiative scheme that both aims to strengthen the capacity of governments to inspect and interdict unauthorized drugs, goods, arms, and people, also supports the implementation of the U.S. strategy for combating criminal gangs from Central America and Mexico announced in 2007 at a summit between the U.S. and the Central American Integration System, SICA.
The fact that the allocation of funds in the Merida Initiative in 2009 have improved for Central America is probably good news, but leaves open a number of important questions, and I'm just going to mention a few: Is the allocation of funds adequate to make a difference in the very complex security landscape of Central America? Are the definition and approach of the Central American component of the Merida Initiative correct? For instance, is the anti-gang strategy effective so that it deserves to get more funding? How effective has been the disbursement of the funds allocated to Central America so far? When it comes to Central America, should the focus of the Initiative be in the building of regional programs as a way of circumventing the inevitable coordination problems that arise when seven different countries are involved? These are only a few of the questions that deserve some attention.
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